AI Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how marine microorganisms break down synthetic polymers, highlighting that this process is less understood than plastic degradation in soil and compost.
- Using advanced techniques like metagenomics and metaproteomics, researchers found that a marine microbial culture can convert a specific type of plastic into carbon dioxide and biomass in about 15 days.
- They identified key enzymes in the microbial community that are involved in the degradation process, revealing that while many genes and organisms are present, only a few are actively engaged in breaking down the plastics.
Article Abstract
The degradation of synthetic polymers by marine microorganisms is not as well understood as the degradation of plastics in soil and compost. Here, we use metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics to study the biodegradation of an aromatic-aliphatic copolyester blend by a marine microbial enrichment culture. The culture can use the plastic film as the sole carbon source, reaching maximum conversion to CO and biomass in around 15 days. The consortium degrades the polymer synergistically, with different degradation steps being performed by different community members. We identify six putative PETase-like enzymes and four putative MHETase-like enzymes, with the potential to degrade aliphatic-aromatic polymers and their degradation products, respectively. Our results show that, although there are multiple genes and organisms with the potential to perform each degradation step, only a few are active during biodegradation.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7666164 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19583-2 | DOI Listing |
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